Karnataka government takes over 75 per cent beds in private hospitals, medical colleges to treat COVID-19 pati

Bengaluru, Apr 26: In a recent development, the Karnataka government has taken more than 75 per cent of beds in private medical colleges and hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients who are in dire situation surrounding the pandemic. It can be seen that the mandate comes under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

As per the government's notification, "There is a need for optimization of existing resources in Public Health Institutions, private medical college hospitals for providing effective treatment in hospitals to COVID-19 infected person based on the severity of the infection/condition in view of increasing number of cases in the State."

"75 per cent of beds in private medical college hospitals having facilities to treat COVID-19 patients shall be reserved for the treatment of patients referred by the public health authorities. This will include the HDU and ICU beds both with and without ventilator," it added.

The order comes after the state health minister said they will take up 80 per cent beds from private hospitals earlier, which however didn't materialise as the private hospital association refused, saying the government hadn't even paid dues from last year.

Presently, as many as 50 per cent of the beds have been reserved in private hospitals in Karnataka for the COVID-19 patients referred by the government.

As many as 143 related fatalities pushed the toll to 14,426, the Health Department said on Sunday. Karnataka had previously reported its biggest single-day spike of 29,438 cases on Saturday.

Total 13,39,201 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, including 14,426 deaths and 10,62,594 discharges. Out of 2,62,162 active cases, 2,60,670 patients are stable and in isolation at designated hospitals, while 1,492 are in Intensive Care Units.